Abstract:
Ostracoda are bivalve crustacean that live in marine through brackish
environment. The study area is off Rameswaram in the Palk Bay. The latitude and
longitude are N 9°17' and from E 79º19' to 79º25'. As Rameswaram and its environ
experiences four types of seasons in a year, namely, Winter (January - March), Summer
(April - June), Southwest monsoon (July - September) and Northeast monsoon (October
- December), ten sediment and bottom water samples were collected during every
season, totaling to forty in a year. The Depth, Temperature, pH, Salinity, Dissolved
oxygen and Nutrients regarding water samples and CaC03 and Organic matter in
sediments were determined apart from the type of sediment. A portion of the sediment
sample from each location during every season were preserved in the field using 10%
formalin and latter processed in the laboratory for determining and counting of living
and total population of benthic Ostracoda. Individual species of Ostracoda were
identified and their living and total population were determined from every samples for
all seasons. Based on the size of the population, widespread and abundantly occurring
nature, the ecology of six species were computed. The six species are 1) Loxoconcha
lilljeborgii Brady, 2) Mutilus pentoekensis (Kingma), 3) Neocytheretta murilineata
Zhao and Whatley, 4) Neomonoceratina iniqua Brady, 5) Tanella gracilis Kingma, and
6) Xestoleberis variegata Brady. The population size of all these six species exceeds
62% of the total population size during all the seasons.
